CARE OF THE TEETH.

Otago Witness, Issue 3885, 28 August 1928, Page 18

CARE OF THE TEETH.

EVILS OF DENTAL DECAY. ADDRESS BY DR DODDS. At the annual meeting of the Royal New Zealand Society for the. Health of Women and Children, held on Tuesday afternoon, a striking address was given by Dr R. B. Dodds, director of the Dental School, Otago University, on “The Hygiene of the Mouth.” The lecturer said that notwithstanding the fact that in the last quarter of a century there had been a tremendous advance in the knowledge and practice of dental surgery, the condition of the teeth, and the investing structures, had grown steadily worse throughout the civilised world, until to-day there existed an -appalling amount of dental disease. Not only was it extremely uncommon to find one child in a district with a normal and healthy mouth and teeth, but the amount of dental disease per child was distressingly high. Particularly did this apply to children of school age. The lecturer quoted authorities which stated that 10,000,000 of the school children in the United States of America—so per cent.— had enough defective teeth to seriously interfere with their health, and said that the proportion was probably higher in New Zealand, despite their boasted favourable living conditions. The lecturer also quoted from a report by Sir George Newman (chief medical officer of the British Ministry of Health), in which it was stated that dental decay was the cause of much ill-health, impairment, and invalidity in children, and in after life,

and that nearly all of it was preventable. School medical and dental inspection had revealed the fact, stated Sir George, that more than half the school children at eight years of age were suffering from dental caries, and many of them from oral sepsis. Prevention could be established, said the lecturer.. The reason why it was not more widely established was because it entailed many changes in diet, and civilised peoples did not change easily. It entailed care and discipline in the main, but people were careless and undisciplined in the matter of hygiene. It was also agrfinst many vested interests. To put it shortly, the commands "Thou shalt ” and “ Thou shalt not ” were never popular, albeit the rules were agreeable ones. _ Thus the great feature in this campaign of prevention was education—education of the mothers and fathers, education of the children, and education of the dentist, that he might ably spread the gospel of oral hygiene. The speaker went on to state that an important factor in prevention was to establish proper development of the teeth and jaws to begin with. Thus they must begin with the young if they were to establish a dental mechanism possessing its own barriers of defence—they must, indeed, begin with the expectant mother. Reference was made by the lecturer to the work being carried out in Engbnd by the Dental Board, the questions of defective development and mal-nutrition as affecting the teeth, being amongst the subjects studied. In America, however, they were largely inclined to place reliance on methods of artificial cleaning. There were three main points which would assist in the possession of good teeth:— A diet which would ensure that the saliva Was properly stimulated. Disease was due to the stagnation of sticky,

starchy foods, and they- could then foresee the value of saliva in cleaning the mouth. Most modern foods had no tasta —the cereal foods —and the natural juices of the mouth were not stimulated. They required a salivity of diet. The lecturer said an aeidy fruit was also of value when the meal was finished. They should use self-cleansing foods and restore the functions of the jaws. The commonest defect to-day was mal-develop-ment of the jaws. Nearly every person who kept all his teeth found that his wisdom teeth could not get into their position. This was caused by the jaws not being developed enough. The lecturer suggested fresh fruit, nuts, raw vegetables, lettuce, watercress, celery, radishes, onions, crust of wholemeal bread, crisp toast, twice baked bread, fish, and bacon as suitable foods. They should avoid sugars, starches (except in granular form), and both together, unless followed by the use of the above foods. The lecturer said that as regarded the use of sugar, no one factor could be said to be the cause of dental decay, but there was no doubt that’ the form in which sugar was usually used to-day was responsible for a tremendous amount of teeth destruction. If sugar had to be taken it should be taken in a diluted form and mixed with acid fruits. Coarse sugar would be the best under these circumstances. As regarded the use of the tooth brush, the lecturer said it helped to bring about oral sanitation. In conclusion, he referred to the. need of education and intensive propaganda, and also emphasised the need of a rearrangement of their diet, with a little time spent in the proper cleansing of the teeth. —(Loud applause.),

Dr C. E. Hercus, in proposing a vote of thanks to Dr Dodds, expressed the pleasure of the society at his appointment as director of the Dental School, and thanked him for his acceptance of the office of honorary dental surgeon to the society. He had dealt with a most important subject, and the speaker felt how excellent it would be if all his suggestions could be carried out. Most of those present, however, would soon break the laws he had mentioned. Present-day foods struck at the heart of inborn habits, and it would take a man of great courage to lead the reform. A great deal of knowledge had yet to be gained, and it must be remembered that sound structure was as important as the local condition of the mouth. Together with students he had investigated cases of children from a dozen schools who had perfect sets of teeth. He hesitated to sayhow many there were and what information was obtained. There were 14 children, and only two were guilty of the use of a toothbrush. The difficulty was that even clean teeth decayed. The toothbrush was only one of many means of prevention. He spoke of the Urewera Maoris, whom he had visited five years ago. and stated that he had found that their teeth had been ruined by- the use of European goods. The best teeth ne had seen were those of the inmates of the Otekaieke Special School for Mental Defectives. Even the older inmates had perfect sets of teeth and strong, muscular jaws. Their diet was simple, sound, and natural, and it had none of the friljg on which people ordinarily relied.